I’ve just had the most amazing five days in New York. Christmas shopping with my kids in all the big stores (I had a bit of a love affair with Macy’s), watching the Knicks play, paying my respects at the 911 memorial, and being generally followed around by my royal stalkers Kate and William on their visit 😉

It was truly magical, and on my last day, things went just a little bit crazy. So I thought i’d share my news with you all.

I woke up to an email from Thomas and Mercer, my publishers… “Have you seen this article in The Bookseller, congratulations… ”

Ebook retailer Kobo collected data between January and November 2014 from more than 21m users, in countries including Canada, the US, the UK, France, Italy and the Netherlands, Kobo found that its most completed book of 2014 in the UK was not a Man Booker or Baileys prize winner. Instead, readers were most keen to finish MY BOOK!! Self-published thriller Rotten to the Core, which as they went on to add, doesn’t even feature on the overall bestseller list.

“Rotten to The Core by Casey Kelleher was the most completed book in the UK, with 83% of people reading it cover to cover,” said Kobo, “whereas the number one bestselling ebook in the UK, One Cold Night by Katia Lief [also a thriller] was only completed by 69% of those who read it.”

Wow!!! And then shit got real!!! The Guardian picked up the article and ran a piece on it, followed by The Telegraph, and then Entertainment Weekly.

The Guardian: http://goo.gl/qT8P1FThe

Telegraph: http://goo.gl/7QnVr1

Entertainment Weekly: http://goo.gl/gtysm6

My phone was going crazy. Mark Lefebvre, Kobo’s Director contacted me personally to congratulate me and the BBC asked me to do an interview. I spent my last day in New York with my head in the clouds somewhere just above the Rockerfella centre.

Sometimes as an author, we do wonder how well our books really do with readers. We can all see the sales figures, and the chart positions, but what do readers think when they read our books? Genuine feedback from readers is all authors really care about. Why? Because they are the people we are writing for. A fellow author said to me today that having your book hold the readers attention really is the best writing achievement of all, and he is right. It really is!

I’m back in the Uk now, still floating up in the clouds, only these ones are a bit grey and not half as magical! A million thank you’s to everyone who bought my books but more importantly thank you for reading them, and for leaving me a review.

Well, well Ms Kelleher, it seems somebody is well and truly stepping up to the plate so to speak:-) Casey Kelleher started off by self-publishing her first three books which if you haven’t read I would highly recommend. I was chuffed when I heard she had signed a book deal with Amazon’s Thomas and Mercer Imprint. I was even more chuffed when the lady herself let me get my hands on an early edition. I have to be honest though, I was nervous. What if her new publishers had suggested changes in writing style or something and I didn’t like it? As a lot of authors know, getting an early edition doesn’t sway my opinion. If I don’t like it, I don’t like it and will say so. However, Casey has stuck two fingers up at me by writing a blinding book that I couldn’t put down. Clearly now she is a published author she feels she has to up her game, and up her game she did.

I have to admit when I started the book I wasn’t that engaged and it took 3 or 4 chapters to get into it. However, once past that point it just got better and better. Harry Woods is a bit of a face along with his right hand man Raymond. Harry’s children are his life and as adults now they all feature heavily in this book. Sadly, this review is very hard to write as if I put too much content in, it will spoil the storyline. Part of the attraction of this book was that there were characters I wasn’t sure about. Why were they in the book, and what part did they play. Thankfully all is revealed as the story progresses. Each time I thought I’d heard it all, another secret is revealed. One particular character Casey managed to write about got right under my skin and that was Christopher. Without revealing too much, she managed to create a one man monster and the writing conveyed that pretty well. I also liked that in addition to the main storyline, there was a less obvious thread that’s revealed even more toward the end.

I’ve read all of Casey’s books and always thought they were brilliant, albeit one has never grabbed me enough to give it full marks. This one certainly did that and it seems Casey is firmly embedding herself in the list of ‘must read’ female British Crime Authors. Many of her readers follow her on Facebook, and Twitter and in a weird way we are all rooting for the likes of Casey to get herself on the platform of recognised authors. It’s great to see British female authors finally get the book deals they deserve, and (without sounding ridiculous) I feel very proud of you Ms Kelleher! CAN’T WAIT for the next book! Your fans will be very pleased

Emma Clapperton gave away a copy of her novel ‘Beyond Evidence’ to the reader with the best ghost story. There were a lot to choose from, and Emma selected one reader’s spooky story about the imprint of her mum’s face on a pillow. (Photo below)

Dangerous blurb: Bobby Taylor is the epitome of dangerous. He’s a king pin who has amassed enough gang ties in his life to fill the Royal Opera House. But on November 5, 1971, Bobby’s underworld lifestyle finally caught up with him. While those who loved and hated him try to get over the shock of his sudden death, it’s now up to Bobby’s son Mickey to settle old scores and figure out what really happened to his dad.

But in his quest for answers, Mickey gets a little more than he bargained for. He has to deal with a broken mother who suffered endless beatings at Bobby’s hands. He has to tap into all of the secrets that his brothers and sisters have never dared to tell. He has to dig through memories of rape, violence, and drug abuse in order to get to the truth.

Most importantly, he has to wonder if one of his family members finally couldn’t take anymore of Bobby’s abuse. After all, they each had plenty of reasons for wanting him dead.

Will Mickey get the answers he’s looking for?

Will his family ever be able to rise above the horrors that Bobby left behind?

Will Mickey be able to protect the family members he has left?

One thing’s for sure… This will be the most dangerous thing he will ever do…

Reader Annie Gilley Truan won ‘An Evening with Martina Cole’. Which I am sooo Jealous about!!! Not only does Annie get to meet the ‘Queen of Crime’, but she will also receive a signed copy of Martina’s new novel before it is even released. Hope you have a fantastic evening Annie, and make sure you get some pics!!

‘Rise and Fall’ was published today, after 8 months of hard graft… writing, editing and talking to the characters in my head as if they were real people.

It went on sale at 4.30 this morning, I know this because a) I couldn’t sleep with nerves and excitement, and b) Amazon kindly let you know when it goes live… oh and c) I got bombarded with loads of fantastic tweets and messages from eager readers.

So less than twelve hours later I get a message from a reader, saying that they happily devoured ‘Rise and Fall’ in one sitting, and that it was better than they could wish for…